Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 334 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,141 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 334 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Telos Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 29,897 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,497,000 after buying an additional 3,999 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 216.3% during the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 4,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 25,345 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,313,000 after acquiring an additional 2,576 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX traded down $2.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $462.30. The company had a trading volume of 320,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,214,476. The firm has a market cap of $119.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.14 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $481.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $441.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $340.83 and a 52 week high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $485.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total transaction of $715,205.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,374 shares in the company, valued at $55,467,918. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total transaction of $715,205.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,374 shares in the company, valued at $55,467,918. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total value of $3,168,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,920,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,703 shares of company stock valued at $26,615,855 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.